What political events caused Eglinton to jump the queue? I wasn't following transit back then, so I wasn't away of the queue jump.
Well, there was no formal "queue" to jump. I just wanted to say that Eglinton LRT, while a very useful line, did not have to be #1 priority.
The sequence of events that favored Eglinton:
1) Miller / Giambrone proposed the LRT plan that covers the whole city. Naturally, Eglinton was included as an important corridor, but it was only one of many proposed lines. Due to the physical constraints, the central section had to be tunneled.
2) By 2009, the cost of proposed LRT lines ballooned. Metrolinx had to defer some of them, but Eglinton survived due to its central position (only the western section was deferred).
3) Ford got elected in 2010, and tried to cancel all LRT. He did not want an Eglinton line. However, the provincial government and Metrolinx stood their ground, as cancelling Eglinton would cost too much. A compromise was found: Eglinton LRT will be built, but placed entirely underground.
That compromise meant that both sides started to support the central section of Eglinton as LRT. Metrolinx and the LRT proponents supported it because it is LRT, while Fordites supported it because it is underground. Hence the work on Eglinton line continued during the Ford's reign, while all other LRT lines got stalled.
As a result, Eglinton construction is progressing well, and it is likely to be the first of Transit City LRT lines that will enter service, despite being the most complex one.
A few nights ago I was made aware that the Scarbrough-Malvern Line would move 4,600 to 5,000 pphpd. To put it in perspective, Eglinton Line moves 5,400, while Sheppard East Line and Finch West Line both move about 3,000. The SMLRT really should have been prioritized over FWLRT.
Hopefully SMLRT will be built sooner than later; likely as an extension of ECLRT.
I think 4,600 pphpd is an exaggeration for the Scarborough-Malvern Line; it should be roughly in line with Finch and Sheppard at 3,000. 3,000 is still a decent ridership for LRT.
There would be a number of advantages of building that line in Phase 1. It does not seem to have any major technical difficulties. It should have been easy politically (no chance of a subway instead, and no hyper-sensitive stable neighborhoods that could start complaining). And, no matter what is selected as a replacement for SRT, having a functional alternative LRT route to Kennedy Stn would partly mitigate the construction pains. During the construction period, some riders would have found their way to SMLRT themselves, and some could be directed there by reorganizing the bus routes.
It still remains viable, even if not a part of Phase 1. Let's see if it gets back on the map.
